Write, Wrote, Written discussion

Chapter 1: Julia

Marc Mathers, the German transfer student, walked into Pre-Calculus on November 23rd of sophomore year and everything changed. Washington High School doesn’t get a lot of foreign exchange students, and when we do get foreigners, they usually don’t speak English or they try to stay invisible. From the first period of his first day, people knew he was different. He sauntered in with his spiky orange hair and a blinding smile and sat in the seat in front of me. He had been wearing a short sleeved plaid shirt and blue jeans along with a nice pair of basketball shoes. It was in the moment that he walked in that the whole social system shifted and Marc became king.

I still remember that moment in sophomore year. I now stand outside the school building, November 23rd in our junior year. The anniversary of Marc Mathers knocking the jocks out of the top spot in the social system and replacing them with his band, Silent Magic. I was walking through the door when I heard two boys loudly joking around behind me. It was Marc himself and his best friend Baljeet. Marc had been staying at Baljeet’s house for a year for reasons that have remained unknown. Everyone knew that Marc and Baljeet were best friends, but I feel as if only I saw how annoying they were. I turned around to face them. “Quiet down, will you?” I snap at them. It only makes Baljeet laugh harder. I guess they don’t take you seriously if you spend more time in the library then at parties.

I walked down the hall to my locker. It was a royal purple like all the other lockers, but it had the word “nerd” written on it three times in very large print by my locker neighbor, Ryan. I hate having Ryan as a locker neighbor. Everytime I turn around, he’s flirting with some girl or hanging out with his football buddies. Today Ryan walked to his locker, a smug smile on his face.

“Hey, Julia,” he said, looking at me with a grin. “So, I know you don’t get invited to many parties, but Mathers gave me a plus one for this rager he’s throwing tonight. You got any interest in coming?”

“What’s the catch?” I asked, picking out the books I would need for the day as he spoke.

“You have your driver’s licence and a really nice car with wifi,” Ryan started, “and Cane’s mom took away his van. So is there any way you could give us a lift?”

I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to laugh at his face. But going to Marc’s party would be awesome. Everyone who went always talked about neon paint and awesome DJs and it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. He was right. I don’t get invited to many parties. “Sure,” I say. “I’ll pick you up from your house?” He nodded. Before you assume I’m a stalker for knowing where Ryan lives, I was Ryan’s friend all throughout elementary and middle school. I’d gone to his house of couple times.

After that conversation, I headed to Chemistry. It was the only class I had with my best friend, Maria. I envy Maria - a lot. It’s no questions she’s a lot prettier than me. She has long black hair and today she had it up in a neat bun. Maria’s a nice height at five foot eight. She is slender and many guys say that Maria Martinez is the hottest nerd in the school. I swear, my bestfriend could be a model if she dressed for the part.

I sat next to her in Chemistry. About two minutes after the bell rings, Baljeet and Marc walk into the classroom. Baljeet sits in the seat behind me, his curly black hair a little messy this morning and his thick black frames always make him look especially cute. Next to him Marc’s spiky orange hair looks perfect and his smile is perfectly white as usual. I admit that they are attractive, but that doesn’t mean I have a crush on either of them. Not that it would matter anyway. Guys like them just don’t like girls like me.

I’m small and have brown hair that just barely goes down to my shoulders. My glasses look similar to Baljeet’s, but they look a whole bunch dorkier on me. I know I’ll never be one of them. I just wish they would at least act as if I’m not invisible.
“Hey, Maria,” I whispered as the science video played. “I was invited to Marc’s party. I’m taking Ryan and Cane there. Ryan was the one who invited me.”

Maria chuckled. “Going to a party with Ryan?” she asked. “You’re so lucky!”

“I’m just driving him there!” I objected in a hushed voice. “And how is that lucky?”

“Ryan’s hot,” she said. I gagged at her comment. Ryan was many things, but hot was not one of them. Marc was hot. Ryan was just annoying. I guess I never understood my bestfriend. “He is,” she continued. “Don’t lie to yourself. Have you even looked at him?” I shrugged and turned my attention back to the video.
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Before I knew it, I was sitting in my car in front of Ryan’s house with pop music from my favorite boy band, The Hour After, playing from my phone’s bluetooth. Soon Ryan and Cane were running toward my silver car. “Shotgun!” Ryan called out as he opened the door to the passenger’s seat. Cane sighed as he sat in the back.

“What is this?” Cane asked, obviously referring to my music.

“The Hour After is a huge no,” Ryan explained, handing me a CD. “Put this on.” It was a Silent Magic CD. I groaned. Everyone was obsessed with Marc’s band. They were okay at best.

I put the CD in anyway. The whole way to the party, I listened to the sounds of Justin’s half-decent vocals with Baljeet’s off-beat drums, Derek’s inconsistent bass-line, and Marc’s surprisingly graceful guitar. It wasn’t terrible, but I would honestly prefer Coldplay. The whole time we were riding, Ryan kept his gaze on me, as if something I was doing that interested him. He was making me uncomfortable. I was happy to get away from him when we finally arrived at Baljeet’s house. And boy was it a party.

Baljeet’s house was amazing. It had three floors and the first floor had large windows. I looked through them and saw a modern kitchen to the right and a living room with a large flat screen TV to the left. In the kitchen there were kids who had the munchies snacking on brownies, cookies and chips. Nothing healthy was being served. Many kids were getting themselves a blue beverage that was being served from a large pitcher.

“Is that drink alcoholic?” I asked Ryan as we walked toward the house. He laughed at me. He whispered my question to Cane and soon they both erupted with laughter.

“Alcohol at Marc’s party?” Cane ridiculed. “You’d never be invited back. If the punch was spiked and you accidentally drank a sip, he’d probably kick you out, too. Anyway, the real party’s in the back.” I walked into Baljeet’s backyard to find a whole bunch of high schoolers jumping up and down. I was surprised to see Justin was the DJ and he seemed very into it.

“If you want me to turn it up, put your hands in the air!” Justin called out. Everyone jumped up and down as if they couldn’t control themselves. I looked around me and found that Ryan and Cane had already slipped away from me. I tried to imitate the jumping and squealing of the girls around me, but without Maria or any other friends, I was helplessly bored.
I had been standing near the fence in solidarity when a boy approached me. As the figure came closer, I realized it was Derek, the band’s bassist. Derek is about six feet tall, African-American and really fit. Before he joined Silent Magic, Derek was on the varsity basketball team and in his sophomore year, he was competitive for a position as starter. Last year he quit the team midseason, surprising everyone. I still didn’t understand his decision. Anyway, Derek was heading toward me and I had no idea what to do. Was he going to kick me out because he didn’t remember Marc inviting me or because I wasn’t dancing?

I was surprised when he smiled at me and just stood right in front of me. “Hey!” he said. “Why are you just standing here by yourself? A pretty girl like you should be up dancing.” Something about him surprised me. His voice was so soft and gentle and he certainly seemed more approachable than Marc. He put his hand out, signaling that I should take it. I blushed and began dancing with him.

I liked dancing with Derek. It was easy and fun, no stress at all. I noticed the stares. People were probably wondering what Derek was doing with a nerd like me. I ignored them. Dancing with him made the world around us fade away. I smiled at him and he smiled right back.

At about midnight, Derek said that he had to go. He gave me his number really quickly. I smiled at him as he walked away toward Justin, Marc and Baljeet. Clearly they were doing something together. Tonight I got Derek’s number. I danced with Derek. I have to tell Maria immediately.

I tried calling Maria from the backyard, but the noise from the party made it impossible for us to hear each other. Eventually I decided to go inside. It was a very modern house, with polished wooden floors and a nice marble theme used in tables and countertops. Still, it was just as loud inside because quite a few boys had decided that they would play Zombie Evolution III at full volume instead of partaking in the festivities. I eventually decided I’d make the call from upstairs. I climbed up the winding stairs and dialed Maria’s number.

“Maria, you’ll never believe what happened,” I said, letting out a bubbly giggle.

“Someone gave you five hundred dollars,” she guessed incorrectly.

“No, but Derek gave me his number after dancing with me,” I told her.

“Derek West?”

“Yes!”

“This makes the nerd history books. Go back to the party. We’ll talk about this tomorrow when you come over for our sleepover.”

“Of course.”

I hung up. Just as I was about to head downstairs, I heard sirens. Police sirens, of course. “Party’s over!” the police called out. I heard a pair of footsteps stomping up the stairs. There was so much chaos. Kids were screaming and running around downstairs. I could see that from my vantage point. And then there were those heavy footsteps, moving quickly up the steps. Knowing it was probably an officer, I quickly hid ran into the nearest room. I closed the door behind me.

Soon the footsteps retreated again soon. Then, I suddenly remembered. Ryan. Of course I had to forget something. Right then I got two texts.

Derek: I had fun dancing. Hope you got home safely. :)
Ryan: Where the heck are you?

I looked around the room. It was a large bedroom and there was a twin bed on the two clearly divided sides of the room. It was large and spacious and on the wall furthest from the door, a flat screen TV was mounted.

On the side of the room closest to the door there was a huge banner labeled “Marcellus” and the bed had black bedding. There were posters of guitars and sports cars along with quite a few pictures of a man who must have been Marc’s dad. The man had shaggy red hair that went down to his shoulders and a scraggly beard. He had a smile that he must have passed down to his son. There were at least ten pictures of the man.

On the other side there was a huge banner labeled “Baljeet”. It was covered with pictures of bikini models. He had neatly organized them. Each girl got her own section of the wall. I was surprised that any parents would let their son hang up stuff like that. I guess it’s a free country.

Soon, I heard footsteps coming from down the hall. I nervously jumped into Marc’s closet and closed the door. I’m glad I did because soon two sets of footsteps entered the room, probably those of Marc and Baljeet. I was sure they would find it creepy if I was hanging around in their room. Finally the footsteps stopped.

“That was a close one,” said a voice with a thick Dutch accent that was clearly Marc’s. “Our plans were ruined. Now we have to clean up this place.” I nearly laughed. Poor little Marc got his party shut down.

“We could,” responded a voice that sounded like Baljeet, “or we could use magic.” I almost burst into laughter. Were these their conversations when they were alone?

“No,” Marc responded, clearly serious. “I can’t risk anything happening.”

“What’s the point of being a faerie if you don’t use magic?” Baljeet asked, clearly not joking.

“Okay, I will use my magic. To get that disgusting display off your wall.” Right then I heard a ping noise. It was almost too high for me to hear. I then cracked the door open just enough to see what was happening. Baljeet’s Bikini Wonderland decor was disappearing. Baljeet helplessly tried to grab some of the pictures off the wall, but they disappeared as soon as they touched his hands. “Wow. That was fun. Now let’s clean the house.” The two began to leave the room to clean up the party.

I sat in the closet a for a few seconds, dazed by what I just saw. Then I remembered where I was. I needed to get home immediately. As I got up from the closet, I found a book at my foot. I quickly picked it up. The title was in German. Feenzauber Handbuch. Unfortunately for me, I am no master of German. I decided I’d take the book with me. It looked magical, quite frankly, and I wanted to have physical proof that I’d really seen what I saw tonight.

I carefully exited the second floor window, climbing down to a ledge on the first floor. I smiled to myself as I ran to my car. I was surprised to see Ryan and Cane still waiting out there. “What were you doing in there that took thirty minutes?” he scowled. He looked at what I was holding in my hand. “Were you reading?” I shrugged. I was about to get into the car when he grabbed the book from my hand. After looking at the title of the small, leather stitched book, he gave it back to me. His face had tensed, as had Cane’s. “Don’t meddle in things you don’t understand,” he told me, his face serious as he watched me get into the car. “And don’t hang out with Marc.” Not that I do anyway. What was wrong with Ryan? I was the one who just saw multiple posters disappear into thin air in a matter of seconds.

Once I was home, I went upstairs to my room. My parents were surprised to see me home so early. “When I was a kid, party’s ran way later than this,” my mom had commented. Once in my room, I turned on my laptop and opened the translation application. I typed in Feenzauber Handbuch. The book’s name translated into Faeries’ Magic Guide.

Hi Julia,

I think I can see where you're going with this - and it's great! Thanks for posting! I have a soft spot for fairies (faeries?)

I think there are some words or sentences that you could possibly omit to carry the story along more smoothly and keep the action flowing. It's SO hard to kill our darlings though! Writing succinctly is one of the most difficult things to do and is probably most often left to the editing process so that the first draft can just be the creative explosion that it should be.

I think Blaise Pascal is the one credited with writing in a letter: "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter."

Here's to all of us as we continue to keep the keyboards clicking and the pens scratching!